Copper gains on mine shutdowns

Base metals prices were mixed on Friday.

Copper was higher in New York, adding 2 cents to $3.55 per pound, on news of an expanding US economy and on the news that Codelco shut down two mines, one in Chile and one in El Salvador, as workers continued to strike.

On the other hand, three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dropped $15 per tonne during the day and was 4.4 percent lower on the week to more than $7,750 per tonne.

The other gainer among base metals was aluminium, which was up $4 to $2,740 per tonne in London.

Three-month lead was around 14 percent lower on the week to $3,000 per tonne in London over the week, with a drop of 2.6 percent on the day’s session.

Supplies of lead were eported to have been greater than demand in May, the second month in a row of surpluses, but LME inventories were down 1.1 percent and have dropped 63 percent in the past year.

Nickel was 2.1 percent lower on the session in London, trading at $30,550 per tonne for a 13 percent decline over the week as inventories added 600 tonnes.

Among other base metals, zinc was $42 lower to $3,453 in London, while tin dropped $125 to $15,375 during the day on the LME.